Edah Haharedit Rabbinical Court Judge Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch addressed in his lesson the reason for the small number of great Torah scholars in our generation, attributing this phenomenon to the absence of continuous diligence in Torah study.
"I heard from the great Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer that the world is wondering and asking why it is that our portion has worsened in that Torah giants don’t emerge from among our ranks as they did from the students of the Volozhin Yeshiva,” he said in a lesson delivered to students in Modi'in Illit, according the the haredi website JDN.
"Indeed, by looking at the constancy of the studies of students at the Volozhin Yeshiva compared to the situation today, we can understand the basis for the difference. In Volozhin, the intermediate learners learned at least 16 hours, certainly no less than 14 hours, every day, including Fridays and Shabbat. They did not drive on any trips home, nor once every few months. They did not know at all what recess was, neither that of Nissan nor Av nor Tishrei, and since they learned without any interruption and distraction constantly, Torah giants emerged from among them.”
According to him, there are many “spaces” in today's curriculum. "But nowadays, how many hours are wasted during the day, one-third of the week - Friday and Saturday are removed from the regular schedule, and even from Thursday, the weekend’s lack of Torah study begins and continues until the beginning of next week.”
"Apart from that, they also leave the yeshiva from time to time and also leave for recess in the middle of the year several times. Is it still a great wonder that there aren’t Torah giants in our generation? After all, we do not study continuously. And that is the reason why Torah giants don’t flourish today," he concluded.